Secrecy/Tension

• Secrecy serves as a catalyst for the duality of human nature and the consequences of suppressing one’s darker side
• Jekyll = respected scientist harbours a profound secret
• Power of secrecy is destructive
• ‘Reeled, staggered clutched….staring with injected eyes’

  • Violent and ravaging
  • Jekyll's transformation into Hyde - climatic moment
  • true horror of Jekyll and Hyde's secret - each persona is trapped within the grip of the other, fighting for dominance
  • Jekyll is losing ground to Hyde
• ‘If he be Mr Hyde, I shall be Mr Seek’

  • Hyde = homophone for hide - highlights secrecy
  • imperative verb = show to what extent Mr Utterson is going to, to uncover the truth
• ‘Windows barred with iron‘

  • Jekyll wants others to keep away from him, to not find out the truth
  • ’barred with iron‘ = jail cell, committed crimes and is now atoning for them
  • ‘window’ = usually open and freeing - extremity to hide secrets
• ‘My positions is a very strange - a very strange one‘

  • Jekyll is being vague to hide his secret - innocuous
  • desire to separate his professional reputation from his private pursuits